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Date: 1/5/2022
NORTHAMPTON – On Dec. 21, The Dirty Truth announced that they are requiring vaccine proof for all patrons, effective immediately.
Kyle Anderson, the general manager of The Dirty Truth, told Reminder Publishing that the mandate seemed reasonable when it comes to protecting his customers and staff. “I was going to implement [a mandate] on Jan. 1 anyway, but it just didn’t seem like I had to wait any longer,” said Anderson. “I just decided it was time, and I wanted to get other people on board and get comfortable in doing it.”
If people cannot show proof that they are vaccinated, Anderson said that the restaurant and bar – which offers beer, cider, food and wine, among other items – is happy to provide takeout, and alcoholic beverages are allowed to be sent home, as well.
Anderson said that he started engaging with the city’s Board of Health about three or four weeks ago to ask if they were considering the possibility of a vaccine mandate for businesses throughout the city. At the time, the Board of Health told Anderson that they were thinking about it, but not fully considering it yet. He believes that a big reason for the city not moving forward with one is because many businesses in the city want to maximize their opportunity for profit as much as possible during the holiday season.
“I do think that [the Board of Health] should’ve been leading this, versus the restaurants being the people having to make these difficult decisions, and then having to figure out public policy and essentially interpret science for the better of our customers and staff,” said Anderson, when speaking about requiring vaccine proof. “The higher up these kinds of decisions can be made, the better, so people aren’t finding gray areas in our policies.”
In a comment to Reminder Publishing, city Health Director Merridith O’Leary commended The Dirty Truth for taking the necessary precautions and requiring proof of vaccine. “Credit to The Dirty Truth,” said O’Leary. “This was very brave being the first and I commend them. I am hopeful more businesses will follow suit.”
Anderson added that he studied what other states were doing when it came to proof of vaccination and took the best steps forward based on “scientific evidence.” He said that there has been an increase in takeout orders, and most customers are continuing to be responsible.
Less than 24 hours after implementing this mandate, Anderson said he experienced some negative and personal criticism from people about the requirement. The establishment received a string of negative online reviews on platforms including Google and Facebook, followed by a second wave of positive reviews from supporters.
“I think, again, that is the unfortunate side … being the only place spearheading this rather than a higher-up government making these decisions for the safety of everyone,” said Anderson. “I don’t think this has to be so decisive. I think the reality is we’ve lost over 800,000 people, and I think the people making these negative comments are sick of mandates and masks … but there’s only one way to get over it, and that is coming together and being as safe as possible.”
The Board of Health conducted a meeting on Jan. 3 to discuss the possibility of vaccine requirements on a wider scale and then continued that discussion again until Jan. 13.